Locked
by Ginseng Love
Summary: Deemed too dangerous for the public, the monsters find themselves locked up again, and some begin to wonder what they really want out of their life. Dr. Cockroach POV. Eventual DrC/Susan.
1. Welcome Home

**Locked**

**Chapter 1: Welcome Home  
**

I've always known that it was too good to last. That's not to say I didn't hope, but I'm a little too smart to be so naive. I wish that, for a few moments, I were locked in in BOB's ignorant bliss. If only it were that easy.

Man is... a rather closed-minded creature. It's only been three months since I fought alongside my fellow monsters, saved this dear planet we call home not once, but twice... three times if you count the snail... And in that short amount of time, mankind has seemed to have forgotten everything we've done for them. As I said before, I knew it was too good to last, but it doesn't seem that my friends were aware of the same thing.

Glancing a little to the side, I can see Link putting up quite a heated argument with a soldier about getting back into that... cage of his. Susan is on her knees, speaking desperately to the general, trying to convince him that we don't deserve to be locked up again. The tears in her big blue eyes almost break my heart. Me? I hold myself with dignity, stroll into my cell as if it were nothing at all. As the door closes behind me, I can't help but feel incredibly... alone.

Taking a deep breath, I take in the all too familiar sight. Empty. With the exception, of course, of the box of goodies in the corner intended to keep my constantly working mind entertained. They figure that if I have something to do, I won't be so tempted to break out. I can, they know I can. But I won't. Why should I if I am unwanted back out in the so-called 'real world'. I would be just as much trapped there as I am here. At least here there are others to keep me company. Others that won't run away screaming at the very sight of me.

I'm trying to imagine something out of the pile of supposed junk. I ignore the glass window that allowed the entire sector to study me, though I can still hear the going-ons. I can hear them trying to fit Insectosaurus into his old cell, though his wingspan is much too big now. I can hear BOB entertaining himself with some mindless activity. And I can hear Susan pounding on the inside of her cell, frustrated, hurt, and confused. When she'd decided to remain a monster, it'd been in the glory of it all, people cheering, looking up -- both figuratively and literally -- to her. Now though...

Glancing at the pile again, I begin to wonder if she's changed her mind about not wanting to be cured.


	2. Think About It

**Locked**

**Chapter 2: Think About It  
**

"You're not bothered by this at all?"

I roll my eyes a little at the question that, while rephrased, I have been asked multiple times. "No Link, it does not bother me." It'd been the same answer every time. That's not to say it's a truthful answer, but one might think he'd eventually get the point. I'm only half-listening as he continued to talk, most of my attention on the thrown out flashlight. Some people had no idea the value of the things they throw out.

"What happened to wanting to continue your research and experiments?"

I give a little shrug. "I have more than enough equipment to work with here."

Link doesn't seem to be convinced. "What about the fresh air? The water, the cities? You don't miss any of it?"

My antennae twitched involuntarily in my annoyance and I glanced over my shoulder to look at him. "I'm a cockroach, Link, I can survive in many different environments.

"Like the sewers?"

A heavy sigh escapes me as I momentarily set aside my work to turn my attention to my brainless friend. "Yes BOB, even the sewers, though I like to believe myself to be slightly more dignified than that."

"Well..." Link crossed his arms over his chest, slumping back in his chair, "you might be able to live here, but I'd rather be at the beach."

"I'd rather be in Modesto," BOB threw in with a dreamy smile.

"That's Susan again," I pointed out, my eyes drifting to the huge table where the only female of our little group still remained silent, picking at her food. It seems all this talk of the outside world has gotten to her. Understandable, of course. It's only been two days since she's been torn away from her family yet again. I wander away from the others, crawling one of the tables' legs in order to put myself... well... closer to Susan's height.

Her chin is resting on her fist in the universal sign of depression, not even seeming to notice me. I straighten my coat and stroll across the table, folding my hands behind my back as I step into her line of vision. "Susan, my dear, are you feeling well? You've hardly touched your..." he glanced to the side at the yellow on her tray that not even I would dream of touching. "... dinner."

She looks up at me with those big blue eyes. "You really... don't miss anything?"

I offer her what I hope is a comforting smile, "Now, I didn't say that."

Susan hesitated, biting her lower lip in that charming way that only females seem to manage. "How can you miss things but not care that you're here again? Locked away from them?"

With a heavy sigh, a take a seat on the edge of her giant tray. "I do not care, my dear, because I always knew it was going to happen. No matter where we monsters go, there will always be someone unwilling to accept us. It's a simple matter of fact about mankind. Not all of them, mind you, but there will always be some who simply can not stand something... different. I do not care because I don't have to worry about that here."

I can tell that her views are a little different than mine. She had always been incredibly expressive, and I can see the frustration and sorrow in her gaze. "But what about the people who don't care? What about the ones who... who care about you no matter what?"

I made a simple gesture with my hands to the room.

"But..." she set her elbows on the table, hunching over a little to bury her face into her hands. I had to duck in order to dodge the heavy locks of silver hair that swung with the movement.

Gently, a placed a hand on one of her arms. She was not like me. She had a family still waiting for her back in Modesto. "You can still get out of here, Susan."

She spread her fingers apart, looking down at me.

"I'm still not entirely sure how to extract the quantonium from your body, but now that I know what it is..." I trailed off, figuring she could fill in the blanks.

Susan's arms dropped to her sides again and she shook her head. "I already told you, Dr. Cockroach. I don't want to go back to being normal. My life before..."

When she trailed off, I simply nodded. "Just think about it dear." With that, I scurried down again, prepared to go back to my work


	3. Decisions

A/N: Wow. xD I'm a little surprised by the amount of reviews, and all good ones at that. Thanks guys. As you can probably see, I update pretty fast. I don't know how long this will last, I've got quite a bit of free time right now. I'll warn you if I have to slow down. Thanks ~

**Locked**

**Chapter 3: Decisions  
**

I remained in my cell when the doors slid open to allow us into the main room. It wouldn't be the first time. The others had, on occasion, known me to get caught up in my work as I was now. Now if only General Monger would give me access to a stronger source of energy than a burnt-out glow stick. I'd been behaving the past few days, enough so that I haven't made anything explode, anyways...

"Dr. Cockroach?"

I nearly jumped out of my exoskeleton when I heard the unmistakable voice, whirling around to face the door. Susan was on her hands and knees, ducked low so that we were at eye level. "Susan," I chuckle a little at my own surprise, clutching my chest. "You scared me."

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly, tilting her head to the side cutely. "Why aren't you at breakfast?"

I smile at her concern, folding my hands behind my back. She'd always had a heart of gold. "Nothing to worry about my dear. I'm just caught up in a little project." I twitch my antennae toward my latest work.

She blinks curiously, lowering a little more to get a better look. "What is it this time?"

Laughing sheepishly, I nudge it under my cot with my foot. "Mind probe," I respond, lowering my voice before pressing a finger to my lips. "Our secret." Alright, I haven't quite been behaving, but the General usually couldn't guess what I was making.

Susan giggles, the sound echoing melodically in my cell. She shifted to lie on her stomach, her forearms holding her weight. "I was thinking about what you said. Your idea..."

Sensing the serious topic, I focus my full attention on her. "And what have you decided?"

She shifted uncomfortably for a moment, biting her lip again. "Is there any way... you could extract the quantonium and save it? Just in case?"

That'd certainly make it a little more difficult. "I'd need a strong enough material to hold that kind of energy," I noted aloud, rubbing my chin in thought. "But..." Looking back up at her, I smile, confident in my abilities. "I think I could manage."

The delight in her expression makes my heart melt a little for reasons I can't quite explain. "Oh, thank you so much!" I step back a little as one of her large hand reaches into my cell, fingers curling around me. It's not that I don't trust her, I'm just not sure she's quite learned to control her strength yet. I duck my head, barely avoiding getting it cracked against the door frame. "You're the best," Susan tells me and I blink in surprise when she gently nuzzles me against her cheek.

A little embarrassed, I laugh awkwardly, patting one of her fingers. "Yes, well, I have been called all that and a bag of chips," I cringe a little at my own use of language, even more so when moves me away a little to look at me.

"You are," she agreed, brushing her fingers over my head before carefully setting me down again. "Do you have enough stuff to get started soon?"

Fixing my clothing in an attempt to be a little more dignified, I look up at her. "General Monger promised to bring me more tomorrow. We can start then."


	4. Dumpster Diving

**Locked**

**Chapter 4: Dumpster Diving**

A garden hose, an old VCR, a shoebox... The cogs of my mind are already turning as I look up at Monger. "You're trying to stay on my good side, General," I note aloud, digging through the box.

"I pulled a few strings," the general responded, watching me search through the things. I'm silently thankful to him. Our warden or not, he knows we shouldn't be here.

I'm disappointed hen I can't find something strong enough to hold the quantonium. I don't want to start experimenting until I'm sure I can contain it. "There's just one thing-"

"I can't get you any uranium."

Damn. But that's not the point. "Not uranium," I assured him, removing the chain of an old bike from the box, studying it closely. Definitely useful. Shaking my head, I focus back on Monger. "I need something strong enough to contain quantonium."

I can see I've perked his curiosity. "The energy inside Ginormica?"

"Yes, that's right." The look he's giving me enforced the thought that I should probably explain. "If we remove it from Susan's body, she'll revert back to her normal size."

Monger nodded in understanding, glancing at the box set in front of me. "I'll see what I can do."

-

It wasn't until that night that I got word again. I'd explained to Susan why we couldn't start and, while she was disappointed, she hadn't seemed to change her mind about this. I rolled over in bed as my lights were suddenly turned on, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over my head. Didn't these people understand that geniuses had to sleep? It couldn't have been morning already.

"Up, up, Dr. Cockroach!"

General Monger? The last time we'd been bothered in the middle of the night, something had been going on. I'm a little reluctant, considering the fact that we're locked up here again, but I have some sense of moral, so I force myself to sit up, looking at him blearily.

"Time to get moving!"

"Care to explain, General?" I asked, forcing myself out of bed, trying to appear poised again, and not like I wanted to roll over and fall back asleep.

"We're going dumpster diving," he explains vaguely, and I can't tell if he's serious or if he's trying to tell me something about some hideous new creature. He doesn't explain any further, stepping out of the cell, obviously expecting me to follow.

Hesitantly, I start after him, grabbing my coat. I can't help but notice that I'm the only one up as we start toward the huge doors that lead out of this prison.

-

"We figure you'd know best what will help with your experimenting," Monger explains, probably seeing the surprise in my expression.

I think I've died and gone to heaven. I look over the junkyard, the mounds of wonderful things that humans throw out so foolishly.

"You have 45 minutes."

"That's all I need," I respond, shaking myself out of my surprise. Standing tall, I strut into the junkyard.


	5. Distracted

**Locked**

**Chapter 5: Distracted  
**

"How come you got to go out?" Link was frustrated. That much was easy to tell. "You don't even care!"

I sighed heavily, never tearing my eyes away from my work. It was a complicated process, even for me, trying to create a device that literally sucked the energy out of someone without, well, harming them. "It wasn't as if I spent hours relaxing in the sun, Link. I was at a junkyard, gathering up necessities."

"Which must have been heaven to you," Link grumbled and I flinch a little, knowing he was right. In all honesty, it wasn't fair. But it was the way things were.

"It was only 45 minutes," I explained, carefully, attaching my power source -- an actual car battery I managed to fix up. Finally I won't have to crank one of my inventions up -- carefully. "It wasn't for me, it was for Susan."

Susan... Glancing to the side, I can see her sitting in her chair, looking a little awkward. She obviously felt bad about it, knowing the others wouldn't get to go out like she would, if she were returned to normal. She had nothing to feel bad for... We all want the best for her. Still, Link finally seemed satisfied with what I said, crossing his arms and leaning back to watch.

"Hey Doc, what does this-"

I smacked away BOB's hand before he could mess with anything. "Try to restrain yourself, BOB. It's a very delicate invention."

He laughed, my words obviously going through one gelatinous pore and out the other. I'll be sure to keep an eye on him.

"How does it look, Dr. Cockroach?" Susan spoke up, fidgeting a little.

"Well," I respond, checking over the extraction device, making sure that everything was connected right, "I'm not quite sure if it'll work yet, my dear. But it's getting there. This can be a very dangerous process if not done right."

She smiled, brushing back a lock of her hair and nodding. "I trust you."

Her words caught me off guard, enough so that I ended up getting my fingers zapped by connecting a wrong wire. "Ow! Bugger!"

"I wanna try!" BOB reached out to touch the wire. I considered stopping him, but I'm fairly certain he doesn't conduct electricity, and instead focused on sucking on my finger to sooth the minor burn It seems my theory wasn't quite correct. As he touched the wire, the electricity passed through his entire gelatinous form before exiting out the other arm, hitting the ground and effectively leaving a ring of soot. Laughing, he reached out to try again, but I smacked his hand away.

"That is quite enough, BOB!" The last thing we need is BOB in control of electrical blasts, though I made the mental note to test that later.

Susan giggled, seeming to find our antics quite amusing. "You guys alright?"

Sighing, I looked back at my burn. "Perfectly fine, my dear. Nothing that hasn't happened before," though I curse myself a little for my own carelessness. For some reason, Susan is incredibly distracting... Well... I know the reason, and that's what worries me a little.

Falling silent, I return to my work.


	6. It Works!

**Locked**

**Chapter 6: It Works!  
**

"Are you ready, my dear?"

Taking a deep breath, Susan gripped the sides of her chair. She nodded, eyes focusing on me. "Ready when you are."

I switched on the machine, watching the lights flash as it powered up. I glanced at the quantonium container -- made from Plexiglas, a cylinder once used to store some sort of acid, from what I can tell -- to make sure one last time that there were no cracks. "Here we go. Try not to move too much, Susan." Pressing the button, I watched, fighting the urge to use my 'mad scientist' laugh, knowing Susan didn't like it when I used it while experimenting on her.

It was a little alarming. Susan gasped and jerked, nails digging into the metal chair as she started to glow green. My hand hovered over the off switch, ready to turn the machine off if Susan so much as cringed. "Come on... come on..." I murmured, watching her closely.

Finally, the green glow began to shift, traveling along the wires that connected to the container and, once it reached it, began to fill it. Link, BOB, and Insectosaurous looked up from their activities to watch my work, Susan slowly getting smaller and smaller. When the last of the glow left her body, I quickly turned off the machine. Susan remained in the chair, hunched over and panting heavily.

"Susan?" I asked, hurrying to the chair, looking up at her. "Susan, my dear? Are you alright?"

Slowly, she focused her eyes on me and a steady smile formed on her sweet face. "It worked?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, I nodded. "Yes, it would seem so." Glancing over my shoulder, "BOB, will you come catch Susan?"

She laughed, looking around the room, at the now very over sized chair. "It worked!" She slid off the chair as BOB stood below it, sinking into the blue mass. She wasn't phased when she was spit out of his mouth and brought into another hug by him.

"Now I can go home!" BOB cried happily, earning another delighted giggle from her.

"That's me, BOB," she pointed out as he released her, wiping the slime from her face. She turned to me, still wearing that big smile.

"And you didn't blow anything up," Link noted aloud, and I sent him a glare of annoyance. He acts as if I blow up everything, which I don't... just some things.

Susan giggled, turning to me. "Ignore him. He's just all smug he can beat me up now."

"I generally do," I responded, straightening myself and turning to walk back to my invention, watching the quantonium curiously. The liquid-like material was shifting inside, radiating energy. If Susan decided to remain normal, perhaps the general would allow me to do a few experiments on it.

When a gelatinous blue hand comes into my line of vision, I quickly smack it away, "No, BOB!" There is no way I'm letting _him_ get his hands on the most powerful substances in the universe. That would just end in disaster.

Glancing over my shoulder, I can see Susan and Link talking, my antenna twitching. It looks like she'll be going home soon... I'm not sure whether to feel happy for her or sad...


	7. Gotta Say Goodbye

A/N: This one's a little longer. xD I got really into it. Anyways, thanks so much you guys, for all the reviews. I'm surprised that I haven't gotten one bad one yet. ^^ Love you all, enjoy the chapter ~

**Locked**

**Chapter 7: Gotta Say Goodbye**

It's all incredibly frustrating. Since she'd been reduced back to her normal size, General Monger has made all the arrangements needed to return Susan home. The more she talks about going home to see her parents and her friends, the more I'm convinced that this is likely the end for 'Ginormica'. A feeling of deep regret has settled in my chest, and I can't help but feel guilty about it. I want what's best for our Susan, I truly do, but the constant thought that I most likely will never see her again weighs at my heart in a way I find impossible to describe.

"Make sure you take a good, long dip in the pool for me."

Link's voice brings me back out of my thoughts and I tried to focus and figure out what they were talking about. It was strange to have Susan sitting at the table across from me.

"I will," Susan promised, smiling longingly. Ahh, Modesto again, it seemed. Not that I'm surprised. It seemed the be most popular topic for the past couple of days. "Maybe the General will let me visit you guys some time."

The chances of that are zero to none. I think all of us -- with the exclusion of BOB -- know that, but we all pretend not to know. "That would be wonderful," I throw in, getting an almost surprised look from Link and Susan. Had I really been so quiet for that long?

Susan was the first to snap out of the surprise, that always lovely smile of hers finding its way onto her face again. "Anything you'd like me to do for you, Doctor?"

Before I could even think of answering, BOB beat me to it. "Tell mom and dad that I missed them!"

Glancing to the side to look at the brainless mass, Susan laughed. "I'll do that." I suppose she didn't have the heart to explain things again.

She looked at me again, but again before I could answer, a roar echoed in the room. "Insecto says you should do some traveling," Link clarified for all of us.

We've all already traveled quite a bit in those three months we were allowed to go about free, but we all know Susan still wants to see more. And she's momentarily distracted by the idea, talking about going to Hawaii -- she'd been too big for the islands before -- and Japan.

I'm only reminded again: She won't want to come back. "Excuse me," I say, taking an old dishrag from my tray to snack on as I stand from the table and start toward my cell.

I flinch at the pause from the others, able to feel their eyes on the back of my head, and my antennae twitch in reaction to it. "What's wrong with him?" Link grunts, and I can almost feel him raising an eyebrow.

There's another roar from Insectosaurus and Link bursts out laughing behind me. "Yeah right, you're crazy Insecto!"

For the first time since my experiment accident, I begin to wonder if cockroaches blush. Insectosaurus had always been incredibly observant, and Link's response makes me wonder exactly what the giant fuzzball had said. I retreat quickly to my room before I can find out.

There I keep myself busy with my 'toybox', as Monger calls it, hearing the others' voices only distantly. It keeps me distracted until dinner rolls arouns, and by then I'm starting to believe that I may very well have come up with a cure for lupus. I'll never know for sure, considering Monger won't allow the scientists around her to use my data and inventions.

"Dr. Cockroach?" There's that voice again, though considerably quieter than the last time. Looking up from my work, I see her leaning on the frame of my door, one hand gripping her opposite arm a little self-consciously.

"Yes, my dear Susan?" I ask, standing from my positions and turning to face her, holding myself at my full height, which again feels strange, considering I'm now taller than her.

She shrugged a little, glancing at my latest work probably out of pure curiousity. "I just wanted to check on you is all."

Her words make the weight on my chest feel a little bit lighter. "That's very kind of you. There's nothing to worry about here."

"Yeah," she agreed, speaking in a surprisingly soft tone, "I guess not."

I can't help but pick up some little emotion in that. "Is something wrong, my dear?"

She released a heavy sigh, focusing her attention back on me. "It's just... I'm leaving tonight."

"Tonight? Is it that time already?" I feign my surprise. I'd already known.

Susan nods her confirmation, biting her lip. She seems unsure of what to say, and I decide to help her out a bit.

Stepping closer, I hold a hand out to her. "It's been a pleasure, Susan."

For a moment, she looks down at my hand, but her gaze wanders back up to me. I'm surprised when she pushes my hand away and instead throws her arms around my neck in a tight hug. I stumble a little to catch myself, stunned and not knowing what to do in response.

"Thank you so much. Doctor. You're absolutely amazing." She shakes her head, holding onto me tighter and finally I realize I should probably move, and I end up resting my hands a little awkwardly on her back.

It's a goodbye, really. For life, I'm sure. But I can't bring myself to say the words. Instead, "If... for some reason you decide you'd rather be here, I'll have the quantonium waiting."

Susan laughs into my shoulder, ducking her head. "Okay," she answers softly. "I'll remember that."

There's a brief silence in which she slowly releases me and pulls back to look at me. Are those tears in her eyes? "Bye Dr. Cockroach."

I'm frozen in my exoskeleton when she shifts to stand on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek. She's hurrying out the door before I can collect myself. 'Goodbye..."


	8. Author's Note

Hey everyone. ^^

So, I loved writing this story. I had some ideas for it, but it feels like a good place to end it. So I was thinking about writing a sequel. I just want to make sure people will actually be interested in it first. So, If you'd like one, please reveiw. ~ Also, if you have any ideas for me, feel free to suggest. ^^ I always enjoy mixing in ideas.


End file.
